Gear-shift lever



Sept. s, 192s.

0. A. ANDERSON GEAR SHIFT LEVER Original Filed April 25. 192] 1 .hulf1.; @mm-ISAN.

am 0. H. IINDARMJN.4 @ZM EEEVE ,ma/m. 41 ,f

Patented sept-8, 1925.

UNiTED STATES VPATEN'r fori-"m1:.1`

OLAF A. ANDERSON, or HAMILTON, oHro.

GEAR-SHIFT LEVER.

Original application filed April 25, 1921,."Sera1 464,121. Divided andthis application filed, .Tune 21,

1922. Serial No. 569,781.

To all whom t may cof/wem:

, Beit known that I, OLAF A. ANDnRsoN, a citizen of the UnitedStatesyand a resident of VHamilton, county of Butler,` State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gear-Shift Levers,of which the following is a speciiication. y

This invention relates to locking devices for motor vehicles and moreparticularly to devices for rendering the usual gear-shift lever of amotor vehicle inoperative.

One of the objects of the invention Visto provide a device of the typereferred to by which the gear-shift lever may berendered inoperative inany of its positions and without regard to whether the gears are in meshAor in neutral. A` further object ofthe invention is to provide alocking device which will render the gear-shift lever ineffective to`shift the gears although permitting the lever to be moved freely in anydirection.

Otherobjects of the invention and the features of novelty willfbeapparent from the following descriptionV taken in connection withaccompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a lever embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a-transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line. 3-3 of Fig. 1.

. This application is a division of my ap-y plication No. 464,121, tiledApril 25,1921.

The form of the invention illustrated comprises a lever formed in twosections, the section 12 representing the gear-shifting section and thesection 13 the handle. These two sections are secured together by a balland socket joint which consists of the ball 15 on the section 12 and thesocket in the part 14 on the section 13. As will be noted from thedrawings the part 14 has a spherical exterior and is thus adapted foruniversal movement in a suitable socket in the transmission casing ofthe vehicle.

The sections 12 and 13 are provided with aligned openings on oppositesides of the ball and socket joint connecting the sections and in theseopenings the plungers 59 and 63 are arranged. These plungers are hingedtogether, as indicated atv64, and a spring 35 bears on the top of theplunger 63 and tends to force the parts downwardly, as will be readilyunderstood from the drawings. The plunger 59 is connected with a memberRenewed J'une 11, 1925.

a cross pin 61 which extends through suitable slots 62 in thesection 12-and vpermit v the member to vbe raised andplowered.

The ball 15 is retained inthe socket in the part v14 byA means of themember 16,

having an opening 66 through whichthe section 12v projects and which isadapted to receive the flange at the top/of the member .160 to rigidlyconnect the sections together and prevent relative swinging movementtherebetween.

'The ball 15` has a fan-shaped slot 65 which permits the swingingmovement `of the section 12 when the axis of the pivot 64 is at thecenter ofthe ball=15, but it will be noted that the construction issuchY asto limitthe lrelative movement"v ofthe lever sections to asingle plane; at right angles t0 the -LXSOthe pivot 64.-

cured in theupperend of the section r13, by a pin 20, or in any othersuitable manner, a plug or adapter 20 which, in turn, has rigidlysecured to it, as by the threads 21 and pin 22, the barrel 23 of a pinlock. The cylinder 24 of this lock is housed in an opening in the knob25, this knob being formed vof two sections which are screwed togetherat 26. The cylinder 24 and the knob 25 are secured together againstrelative rotation by the pin 27. A sleeve 28 has a flange 29, arrangedbetween the bottom of the cylinder 24 and a shoulder 30'in the knob andis held against rotation relative to the knob by a pin 31. The lock,comprising the barrel 23 and the cylinder 24, therefore, serves tosecure the knob 25 against rotation on the handle 13 when the key 32 isremoved from the barrel 23, according to the well-known principle of thepin lock illustrated. f

A rod 36 is attached to the plunger 63 and,

at its upper end, to the block 37 that is slidable in the upper end ofthe section 13 of the lever and carries a ycross pin 38, the oppositeendsV of which project through elongated slots in the section 13 andinto the spiral slots 40 in the'sleeve 28. Thus when the knob 25 isrotated in the left hand direction, the parts being as shown in Fig. 1,the ends of the cross pin 38 will traverse the spiral slots 40 andthereby lift the block 37 as well as the plungers 59 and 63 until thelatter enters the opening 66 and locks the .lever sections rigidlytogether. Vhen the .knob is rotated in the `opposite direction themember 60 will be withdrawn from the opening 66 and permit one sectionof the lever to be swung relatively to the other. A spring 71 gears. Byvinserting the-key 4in the lock andV rotating the knob 25 the 4member 60is caused :to enter the opening 66, thereby locking the :lever sectionstogether and causing .them to act as a unit.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. In a device of the class described, the combination with a levercomprising a plurali-ty of sections connected by a ball and socketjoint, tliesocket of one section having ,a relatively large openingthroughv which the other section projects and which permits relativemovement between the sections, of a member ,slidable on said othersection into said opening and Aadapted vto prevent lrelative movementbetween the sections, and means comprising a plurality of parts hingedtogether and slidably arranged in said sections alldconnected with` saidmember for actuat- ,and operatively connected with the firstmentioiiedmember, the joint between said plurality of ymembersbeing arranged toco-Y incide with the vairis ol hinge between said lever sections whenthe iirst--mentioned`mein-v ber is in position :to permit relative move*ment between said lever sections.

.3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a levercomprising two sectionsh-inged together, mea-ns for preventing relativemovement between said sections, and

ya plurality of members pivotally connected Atogether and operativelyconnected with said means to actuate the latter, the pivot b etween saidmembers vbeing arranged to coincide with the a-Xis ofthe hinge betweensaid lever'sections when said means is--positioned to permit relativemovement betwecnsaid lever sections.

In testimony whereof I a'l'lfiX- my signature.

lOLAF A. ANDERSON.

